02 November 2009

Prayers all around

I con-celebrated the All Souls' Mass this morning with the other friars, offering prayers for those whose names were left in the combox (almost 200 names!).

Please pray for my mom. . .I called her this morning for our usual Monday chat, but my dad was preparing to take her to the doctor. . .When I asked her what was wrong, she responded, "I think I have the Russian Pig Flu." 

Dr. Becky at her best!

01 November 2009

Cover & Title of my newest prayer book!



Liguori Publications notes that Treasures Holy and Mystical will be available May 1, 2010.

Crdl Levada clarifies a question on celibacy

A clarification from Cardinal Levada of the CDF, regarding speculation that the publication of the Anglican apostolic constitution is being delayed in order to iron out the question of clerical celibacy for future seminarians of the Anglican Ordinariates:

There has been widespread speculation, based on supposedly knowledgeable remarks by an Italian correspondent Andrea Tornielli, that the delay in publication of the Apostolic Constitution regarding Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church, announced on October 20, 2009, by Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is due to more than "technical" reasons. According to this speculation, there is a serious substantial issue at the basis of the delay, namely, disagreement about whether celibacy will be the norm for the future clergy of the Provision.

Cardinal Levada offered the following comments on this speculation: "Had I been asked I would happily have clarified any doubt about my remarks at the press conference. There is no substance to such speculation. No one at the Vatican has mentioned any such issue to me. The delay is purely technical in the sense of ensuring consistency in canonical language and references. [Shudder. . .the tedious task of getting the footnotes right.] The translation issues are secondary; the decision not to delay publication in order to wait for the ‘official’ Latin text to be published in Acta Apostolicae Sedis was made some time ago.

The drafts prepared by the working group, and submitted for study and approval through the usual process followed by the Congregation, have all included the following statement, currently Article VI of the Constitution:

§1 Those who ministered [past tense] as Anglican deacons, priests, or bishops, and who fulfill the requisites established by canon law and are not impeded by irregularities or other impediments may be accepted by the Ordinary as candidates for Holy Orders in the Catholic Church. In the case of married ministers, the norms established in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Sacerdotalis coelibatus, n. 42 and in the Statement "In June" are to be observed. Unmarried ministers must submit to the norm of clerical celibacy of CIC can. 277, §1. [The pastoral provisions for married Anglican clergy will remain in effect.]

§2. The Ordinary, in full observance of the discipline of celibate clergy in the Latin Church, as a rule (pro regula) will admit [future tense] only celibate men to the order of presbyter. He may also petition the Roman Pontiff, as a derogation from can. 277, §1, for the admission of married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See [this is not a good move].

This article is to be understood as consistent with the current practice of the Church, in which married former Anglican ministers may be admitted to priestly ministry in the Catholic Church on a case by case basis. With regard to future seminarians, it was considered purely speculative whether there might be some cases in which a dispensation from the celibacy rule might be petitioned. For this reason, objective criteria about any such possibilities (e.g. married seminarians already in preparation) are to be developed jointly by the Personal Ordinariate and the Episcopal Conference, and submitted for approval of the Holy See."  [So it is likely that married men currently studying for the Anglican priesthood will be granted dispensations for ordination if they come over to Rome.  Nothing here indicates what the norms will be for those entering seminary after the P.O.'s are established.  My guess is that they are choosing to wait and deal with this when the question arises in the future.  This strikes me as risky, but real-life cases help make better law].

Cardinal Levada said he anticipates the technical work on the Constitution and Norms will be completed by the end of the first week of November.

Will the P.O.'s become a "back door" for making married clergy the norm for the Latin Rite as a whole?  Probably not.  But the canonical language will have to be very carefully drawn so as to prevent revisionists from giving the canons "creative interpretations."  However, unlike the Anglican Communion, the RCC has a central authority that can prevent unintended applications of canon law.  In other words, creative bishops will not be able to abuse the provisions of the P.O. to sneak married clergy into the Latin Rite as the norm. 

Book Winners for 2009

One fairly quick and easy way to find out what's considered the best English-language literature available is to peruse the annual prize winners' lists.  Print out a copy of a list and take it to Barnes & Nobel or Borders and buy two or three of these books for your reading pleasure. 

If you would like some poetry recommendations, just ask.  My knowledge of contemporary fiction is limited at best, but I do keep up with the latest in poetry.  For novels and non-fiction, I rely on lists like these:

Publishers' Weekly Ten Best Books of 2009 (. . .and I've not read any of them!)

National Book Award Winners for 2009

The Man Booker Prize (UK) shortlist. . .Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall won

Pulitzer Prize winners for 2009. . .W.S. Merwin wins in poetry (no surprise there)

Nobel Prize in Literature:  Herta Muller (never heard of her)

Poetry Foundation's Ruth Lilly Prize winners list

31 October 2009

Mini-Coffee Bowl Browsing (Scary Edition)

No, the Pope has NOT condemned Halloween

Is Britain sick of the "American cult of Halloween"?  No, but Damian Thompson is!

"Demonizing" Halloween only makes it more popular. . .Yup.

Truly frightening!  Tolerant, peace-loving, open-minded Piskies rage incoherently.

30 October 2009

Catholic $$$ for anti-Catholic groups?

Once again it's that time of year to shine a little light on the CCHD. A collection will be taken this Sunday to support the activities of the CCHD. Most of the grants given out by this group are perfectly fine, perfectly Catholic. However, the administrators of the CCHD are still using parishioner donations to fund dodgy left-wing community-organizing groups and anti-Catholic ballot initiatives.

Like all good Catholics should: educate yourself and act accordingly!

Link:  Reforming the Catholic Campaign for Human Development 

Consider donating to an alternative Catholic charity.  One of my brightest students from U.D. works for A Simple House.  Check 'em out!

Why the delay in publishing the Apostolic Constitution?


The National Catholic Register is reporting. . .

by EDWARD PENTIN

Thursday, October 29, 2009 7:39 AM

The delay in publishing the apostolic constitution, which will allow large numbers of Anglicans to be received into the Catholic Church, is due not so much to translation problems as the more weighty issue of priestly celibacy. [The Vatican has been having a lot of translation problems since Benedict took over. . .methinks there may be Latinist moles in the Curia who don't care for the Holy Father's "reform of the reform" revolution.]

According to two reliably informed Italian newspapers, Il Giornale and Il Foglio, canon lawyers are continuing to define what has been a particularly unclear aspect of the new provision: whether married Anglicans could train as seminarians. [Why is this unclear?  The answer is no.]

Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale reports that over the last few days, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts has been working to clarify this point. He writes that “everything suggests” seminarians in these future Anglo-Catholic communities “will have to be celibate like all their colleagues in the Latin Catholic Church.” [Yes, of course. . .I wonder why this is even a question.  To allow Anglo-Catholic seminarians to marry will completely undermine the discipline of celibacy in the Church.]

Both papers also report the Holy Father would have preferred the publication of the apostolic constitution to have taken place at the same time as last week’s press conference, mainly to avoid any repeat of the mishandling of his decision to lift the excommunications on four bishops from the Society of St. Pius X earlier this year. [Smart man, that Benedict!]

But as Cardinal William Levada had already informed the bishops of England and Wales and the Archbishop of Canterbury of the provision, and the date for their joint press conference in London had already been disclosed, it would have been impossible to keep the matter under wraps, Tornielli writes. The Vatican therefore decided to go ahead with the press conference, even though the precise canonical details of the constitution hadn’t yet been worked out. [The roll out of this historic announcement was done perfectly. . .now we learn it was all an accident.  Only in Italy!]

H/T:  Newadvent

29 October 2009

How many trees must die for Obamacare?

Just read on Drudge that the PelosiCare bill is 1,990 pages long!

Let's see. . .

435 members of the House
100 members of the Sentate
1 occupant of the White House (unless he's playing golf)

That's 536 copies (at minimum) x 1,990 pgs each = 1, 066,640 pages!!!

Or 2,133 packs of standard printer/copier paper.

How many trees is that?

National Youth Sunday will be Christian this year


Anna Arco of the Catholic Herald draws out attention to National Youth Sunday 2009:  Witness to Hope.

Noting the failure of last year's event--a patronizing  "Let's Go Green for Jesus" fest--, Arco contrasts the descriptions of two events:

The blurb on the site, introducing Christ the King (and National Youth Sunday), reads:

“The feast of Christ the King invites us to reflect on the nature of the Kingdom of God, and challenges us to live as citizens of a kingdom “not of this world” (John 18:36). What is distinctive about Christ’s kingship? Jesus says that “all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice” (John 18:37). What does it mean to listen to this voice today? How do we act on its promptings to bring about the Kingdom of God here and now? “

Compare and contrast with:

"This year’s [2008] National Youth Sunday takes the theme Reclaim the future! It continues the live simply message of recent years by inviting us to think about how we can live sustainably in our communities. Green issues and environmental concerns remain constantly in the news: we continue to hear about the effects of global warming; we’re encouraged to consider how we use the world’s resources; we are told to recycle more and more, and so on. Living simply and sustainably reminds us that these aren’t just trendy, eco-friendly actions but God-given responsibilities."

Arco asks if we can spot the difference between the two events.  Yes, this year's event is Christian.

28 October 2009

Urinating on Christ

A reader asks that I comment on a recent episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm during which one of the characters urinates on a painting of Christ. . .

I worked in an adolescent psychiatric hospital for about four years.  As the unit team leader,  I dealt with emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually abused teens who acted out in violent ways to get adult attention.  The unit staff always responded to these outbursts by pointing out the difference between positive and negative attention.  Seeking after positive attention was praised as progress in treatment.  Seeking after negative attention was treated with clinical coolness and swift negative consequences. 

Peeing on a painting of Christ on TV is a cry for attention.  "Look at me!  Look at how avante garde I am!"

When I read about this urination incident, my first thought was:  "Someone needs a time out."  Now, I think this incident doesn't deserve any sort of attention at all.  Why?  First, it was designed to provoke exactly the kind of response it's getting--outrage and calls for condemnation.   Lots of attention that does nothing but boost the show's media profile.  Second, it's a cowardly act.  The show's writers would never have a character urinate on a copy of the Koran.  Since Christians don't declare fatwas, we're a safe and easy target.  Third, what harm was done?  Jesus suffered much worse in real life.  As Christians, we are certainly offended, but Christ promised us a tough road if we chose to follow him.  Fourth, within a few days the show's producers will apologize and come out looking like heroes who have decided to 'fess up and acknowledge the sputtering indignation of thin-skinned Christians. 

They win on every front.  Points to them from their equally adolescent fans for bravery in taking on a controversial issue.  Points to them for being mature enough to admit a mistake and apologize. 

The best response to adolescent attention-seeking behavior like this is to glance at it, sigh a little, shake your head, and keep on doing what you're doing.  Anything more than that reinforces the behavior as an effective means of tweaking the safely tweaked.

I don't think he likes Armstrong's new book. . .

A review of Karen Armstrong's new book, The Case for God.

It is a rare occasion that I find it difficult to point out any redeeming features in a book-when I struggle to find a single positive to write in a review. Unfortunately Karen Armstrong’s The Case for God is one of those books-one that is so monstrously bad, so hopelessly awful, so wretchedly miserable, that it took concerted effort just to finish it.
 
[. . .]

The Case for God, then, is in no way a case for the God of the Bible or, really, for the God of most other faiths. Rather, it is a defense of making the idea of God respectable again, even if it means radically changing what we mean by that name. It is an absolute mess and easily one of the most boring, most obnoxious books I’ve ever read.

Wow.  I've not read the book.  Comments from those who have?

The terms of religious life explained

Recent developments in Rome and Canterbury and the scandalous pro-abortion activities of a Dominican sister have raised a number of questions about the ordained ministry of the Church and religious life.   There's a lot of confusion out there!

Let's see if we can bring some clarity to the scene.  Before moving on, I have to point out that almost every distinction and claim made in what follows has its exceptions.  I am making no attempt here to be absolutely thorough.  These are general distinctions made in order to clarify terms for average Catholic folks. Objections can (and no doubt will) be made to just about everything I've written here.

1).  What is the difference between a sister and a nun?

All religious women are properly called "Sister."  Some religious women are nuns and others are sisters.  Nuns are solemnly professed religious women who live contemplative lives within the confines of a monastery.  Nuns are cloistered sisters.  Sisters (or "apostolic sisters") are solemnly professed religious women who live "in the world," working at various jobs either directly or indirectly associated with the Church.  Some sisters live in convents.  Others live alone or in small groups in apartments or houses.  Nuns typically wear some kind of habit.  Sisters rarely do. 

2).  Monastery vs. convent?

Monasteries are for men, convents for women, right?  Wrong.  These two terms denote whether or not the religious men or women are cloistered, that is, enclosed.  Religious who live enclosed lives live in monasteries.  Religious who live apostolic lives live in convents.  Monks and nuns live in monasteries.  Sisters and friars live in convents.

3).  Friar vs. monk?

Friars are a relatively new form of religious life (13th c. or so).  We are partly cloistered and partly apostolic.  Friars are free to leave the cloister when the occasion requires it.  Monks are cloistered all the time and leave only with permission.  For both friars and monks, modernization has loosen regs on leaving the cloister.  Another distinction that I'll throw in here is the difference between a "Father" and a "Brother."  Most male religious orders have members who are ordained priests and members who are laymen.  Dominicans have clerical friars and cooperator brothers (i.e. "lay brothers").  Historically, lay brothers in the Order were the laborers among the clerics.  They kept the practical side of priory life going while the priests contemplated the mysteries of philosophy and theology.  Brothers basically served the community in the kitchens, the garages, the yards, the laundries.  With the advent of Vatican Two, the decline in vocations generally, and the rise of egalitarianism in the Church, the brothers stepped up and took on ministries normally reserved to priests.  There was some significant pressure in the 1980's in response to the priest shortage for brothers to be ordained.  Many did so.  Nowadays, cooperator brothers earn PhD's in just about any field useful to the Order, serve in parishes, universities, chancery offices, etc.  Unfortunately, in many Dominican provinces, the lay brother vocation is on the decline, if not altogether extinct.  Currently, there is a move to reinvigorate the vocation.  Deo gratis!

4).  Secular priest vs. religious priest?

All Catholic priests are either secular or religious.  This is not a distinction between degrees of holiness or religious observance.  Secular priests work directly under a diocesan bishop.  They make promises of celibacy and obedience.  Typically, secular priests work in parishes or diocesan schools.  They can be assigned outside their diocese by their bishop.  Secular priests wear black clerical suits when "on duty." Religious priests are ordained men who belong to one of the Church's many orders, societies, or congregations, e.g. Benedictines, Jesuits, Dominicans.  Religious priests typically follow a rule of life designed by a saint or some other spiritual leader.  Religious priests take vows of celibacy, poverty, and obedience.  Religious priests wear distinctive habits, or sometimes black clerical suits.  Secular priests tend to live alone, while religious priests tend to live in community.   This is not a hard rule, but it is almost always the case. 

5).  Vow of poverty?

Different orders have different philosophies of poverty.  For example, Franciscans typically see poverty as an end in itself.  To be poor is the goal, a sign of dedication and holiness.  Dominicans typically see poverty as a means to improving the preaching by eliminating distraction and material commitments.  Generally speaking, the vow of poverty commits the religious person to living within the means of his/her community for the benefit of the community.  Salaries, bonuses, donations all go into one communal pot and individual expenses are paid out of the community's resources.  For example, as a friar I do not own a car.  When I am assigned to a priory, the prior of the community assigns me a car to use while I am a member of that community.  Gas, insurance, maintenance are all paid out of the priory's communal pot.  For Dominicans, poverty does not mean impoverishment but rather something closer to simplicity in community life.  For Franciscans, it means something very close to impoverishment.  Theologians and philosophers are still trying to understand the notion of "Jesuit poverty."  ;-)

6).  Vow of celibacy/chastity?

Three terms need to be defined here.  Celibacy means not getting married.  Chastity means being faithful to your commitments.  Continence means no sex.  Reporters in the secular media often confuse these three terms. Vowed religious are bound to chaste celibate continence.  Celibacy and continence might be thought of as restricted behaviors:  no marriage, no sex.  Chastity is an attitude.   True chastity is extraordinarily difficult to achieve.  Married people are called to chastity.  So are single people.   Since Catholic moral theology teaches that sex activity is only morally permissible within a sacramental marriage, celibacy always means continence.  So, if a Catholic is single, he/she is also called to continence.

7).  Vow of obedience?

Again, lots of philosophical differences among the various orders of religious.  Historically, Jesuits have used a military model for obedience. Get your orders, follow them.  Period.  Dominicans used to be somewhat like this, but now we tend to see obedience as something more akin to paying careful attention to the needs of the Order and responding to those needs with generosity and good will when asked to do so.  It is rarely the case that a Dominican must be "ordered" to do something.  However, it can be done with a "formal precept."  Most assignments in the Order are made after careful consideration for the gifts and temperament of the friar.  No provincial wants to assign a friar to a ministry that he is loathe to take on.  This means unhappiness all around.  Abuses of authority in the past have led many religious orders to abandon the military model of obedience.  Now, we tend to focus on the root meaning of obedience and emphasize the necessity of "listening" to the needs of the community and responding in generosity.  This too causes problems, but so long as we are on this side of heaven we must deal with human fallenness.  Obedience is meant to mitigate our natural tendencies to seek out our own good regardless of costs.

8).  Habits:  yea or nay?

This is a minefield.  If you want to start a shouting match among religious, pronounce on the issue of habit wearing.  Regardless of how you come down on the issue, someone will object and they will usually object loudly.  Within communities, habit wearing (or not) has become a symbol for all the ideological fights that we are fighting in more detail in other arenas.  For example, habit wearers are traditionalists, conservative, authoritarian, medieval, and seeking after attention and privilege.  Non-habit wearers are reformers, liberals, loosy-goosy hippies, modernists, and trying too hard to be hip.  Wear a habit and you proclaim your ideological allegiance to institutional conformity and power.  Don't wear a habit and you proclaim your ideological allegiance to non-conformity and libertinism.  Of course, these are caricatures.  Most religious wear habits when appropriate.  The real fights begin when either side tries to impose its habit wearing views on the other.  Typically, there are times and places where habits are specifically called for, e.g. communal prayer, meals, ministry.  And there are times when the habit wearing is discouraged, e.g. casual shopping, outside work/recreation, etc.  And, as always, there are exceptions to these rules!  Local communities usually have their customs about what is and what is not an appropriate time and place to don the habit.  Younger religious these days tend to wear the habit more often then not.  Interestingly, habit wearing isn't a big issue among European Dominicans.  And they seem to think that American Dominicans are being silly to fight about it.  Welcome to religious life!

What have I left out?

27 October 2009

Catholics are too stupid to get it

Bishop Donald Trautman thinks Catholics are too stupid to understand most of the new English translation of the Roman Missal:

"The vast majority of God's people in the assembly are not familiar with words of the new missal like 'ineffable,' 'consubstantial,' 'incarnate,' 'inviolate,' 'oblation,' 'ignominy,' 'precursor,' 'suffused' and 'unvanquished.' The vocabulary is not readily understandable by the average Catholic," Bishop Trautman said.

Here's a radical idea:  let's do what the Church has been doing for 2,000 years--let's teach the faith and not assume that our people are inherently unable to learn!  A bulletin insert should do the trick.   In arguing against what he thinks of as liturgical elitism, the good bishop exposes himself as a cultural elitist.  This is the sort of condescension we've come to expect from the progressive wing of the Church. 

"'The (Second Vatican Council's) Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy stipulated vernacular language, not sacred language,' he added. 'Did Jesus ever speak to the people of his day in words beyond their comprehension? Did Jesus ever use terms or expressions beyond his hearer's understanding?'"

If I'm not mistaken the gospels are jam packed with examples of Jesus doing just that--teaching and preaching ideas that baffled people, especially those who followed him closely.  The disciples are constantly misunderstanding his teaching.  Large numbers walked away from his Bread of Life discourse in John because they didn't get what he was saying.  He himself admits that his parables are meant to be understood only by those who "see and hear."   "Vernacular" certainly means "everyday language," but are we to believe that the Council Fathers intend for us to constantly re-translate the Mass to keep up with the ever-shifting trends in the language?  English is an incredibly dynamic language!  Of course, what the bishop fears is that the sacred language of the new translation will become the vernacular of the Church's liturgy.  Can't have all that transcendent mumbo-jumbo pointing us toward God, ya know?

"'Since [the Nicene Creed] is a creedal prayer recited by the entire assembly in unison, the use of "we" emphasized the unity of the assembly in praying this together as one body. Changing the plural form of "we"to "I" in the Nicene Creed goes against all ecumenical agreements regarding common prayer texts,' he said."

So, if I'm understanding the argument here, we only get the communal sense of the Creed if we start the prayer with "we."  Does reciting the prayer together fail to demonstrate the communal nature of the prayer?  Does starting the Pledge of Allegiance with "I" undermine its communal nature?  I have no objection to "we," but the bishop's argument here seems specious.  And I'll start worrying about conforming Roman Catholic liturgical practice to ecumenical  agreements when our non-Catholic brothers and sisters start worrying about conforming their doctrine and practice to ours.  Women bishops, anyone?  Communion for pets?

"The new translation asks God to 'give kind admittance to your kingdom,' which Bishop Trautman called "a dull lackluster expression which reminds one of a ticket-taker at the door. ... The first text reflects a pleading, passionate heart and the latter text a formality -- cold and insipid."

And the concluding prayer from yesterday's Mass ended with "May this Eucharist have an effect in our lives."  An "effect"?  Like giving us the measles?  Or causing excessive gas?  Or increasing male pattern baldness?  All of these are effects of causes.  Talk about insipid.  I'll confess right now:  I didn't conclude yesterday's Mass with the appointed prayer.  I flipped the page and used the prayer from the 31st Sunday.  

What the good bishop fails to understand, or willfully refuses to acknowledge, is that the Mass is a time and place apart from the market, the family room, the corner pub.  Instead of urging Catholics to take the sacred out into the world, he's pushing the Church to bring the world into the Church.  This is reverse evangelization.  Of course, the new translation will be clunky at times and it will use words that normal people don't hear everyday.  A little education will go a long way toward fixing these problems.  

The other element here that everyday Catholics aren't aware of is the theological differences between the 1970 translation and the new one.*  The 1970 translation renders most of the Latin in such a way that emphasizes human effort in achieving salvation and holiness.  God's work in us is minimized, if not outright eliminated.  The 1970 English missal has been credibly accused of Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism, ancient heresies that teach we achieve redemption/holiness by our efforts alone, or with little help from God.  The ideological effort, of course, is aimed at "building community down here" rather than leading us to become a Church that prays up there. 

The 1970 missal is deeply flawed.  The new translation will be deeply flawed.  Language is simply incapable of adequately expressing the fullness of God's glory.  That's a given.  But what do we need our prayers to do?  Remind us that we live in a fallen world?  Or lift us to the One who created us and redeemed us?

Thankfully, Bishop Trautman lost this fight. 



*I read a draft of the new translation while studying at Blackfriars, Oxford in 2003-4.  It is not as ridiculously ponderous as the good bishop would have us believe.

Choose to hope

30th Week OT (T): Readings
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
SS. Domenico e Sisto, Roma

Sometimes planted seeds die in the ground. Sometimes yeast will not leaven wheat flour for bread. For those of us who are not farmers or bakers we could add: sometimes laptops do not boot up; sometimes buses do not run on time; sometimes you get a “C” in Latin. We experience the failure of potential to be fulfilled everyday. Essays go unwritten. Books and articles for class go unread. Chances to forgive and ask for forgiveness pass us by. So accustomed are we to mishaps, lapses, and near-misses that we have adapted ourselves to work around them, to count them as features of doing business in a world not yet perfected by God's grace. If there's any grand purpose in failure, it is this: who we are made to be in Christ is made all that much clearer, all that much more starkly evident. For those of us who are saved by hope, living in the middle of the contrast between what is and what could be hones the good habits of endurance so that our inevitable trials are not merely endured but enjoyed, celebrated as signs of what we have yet to achieve with Christ. The mustard seed will germinate and grow. The yeast will rise to leaven the bread.

Paul, writing to the Romans, asks: “. . .who hopes for what one sees?”  We do not hope that the bus arrives on time when we see it arriving on time. We do not hope that our laptop will boot up when we see it booting up. Hoping for success when we see success in action is irrational. So, Paul adds, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.” Notice here that he qualifies how we wait, “with endurance.” We do not hope, waiting impatiently, or angrily, for what we do not see. While we hope for what we do not see, we wait with strength, resolution; with guts and grit, with moxie and mettle. We dare failure to do its worst, and still we hope. But we must remember, lest we sound arrogant, we must remember: we do not hope in the works of our hands, or the words of our mouths; we hope in the marvelous deeds of the Lord, in His Word alone. It is only in the Kingdom of God that the mustard seed always grows, that the yeast always leavens. And only in His Kingdom that our failure might be counted as success.

Paul writes, “. . .in hope we were saved.” Saved from what? From whom? We are saved from despairing over our inevitable mistakes; from collapsing under the weight of temptation and sin; from suffering for the sake of suffering; we are saved from the one who would rejoice if we were to abandon eternal life for endless death; from the one who wishes us nothing but disorder, disease, insanity, and pain. The most marvelous deed that our Lord has done for us is to free us from all that binds us to the one who would kill us out of envy and spite. We are saved from his eternal failure. We are planted, watered, and fed so that all we can do is grow and thrive; all we can do is season and leaven this world. Therefore, choose to hope, or hopelessness will be chosen for you.

26 October 2009

Sr. Quinn and canon law

Canon lawyer, Ed Peters outlines a few possible canonical responses to Dominican sister Donna Quinn's formal and material cooperation with abortion.

Unfortunately, he agrees with me that there is little to be done. 

Faith No More

Christopher Hitchens on "What I have learned from debating religious people around the world":

"[Pastor Doug] Wilson isn't one of those evasive Christians who mumble apologetically about how some of the Bible stories are really just "metaphors." He is willing to maintain very staunchly that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and that his sacrifice redeems our state of sin, which in turn is the outcome of our rebellion against God. He doesn't waffle when asked why God allows so much evil and suffering—of course he "allows" it since it is the inescapable state of rebellious sinners. I much prefer this sincerity to the vague and Python-esque witterings of the interfaith and ecumenical groups who barely respect their own traditions and who look upon faith as just another word for community organizing. (Incidentally, just when is President Barack Obama going to decide which church he attends?)"

Read the whole thing here.

25 October 2009

Insomnia, or On the use of Greek pastries in the Crimean War

Ugh.

I woke up this morning at 3.00am and couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up, got some coffee and fired up Ye Ole Laptop for some browsing.  (Note the time stamps on the posts below).  My hope was that I would get a little sleepy and manage to fall back into dreamland.

No luck. 

Anyway, after Laud/Mass, breakfast, and a turn around the cloister, I got to work.  Lunch, recreation with the brothers, and. . .finally!. . .a little nap.

However, I am still both wired and tired.  So, wired and tired that I completely misread this pic caption at one my new fav blogs, Big Government"Today is also the anniversary of the Charge of the Light Brigade, from the Battle of Balaclava in 1854."

My first thought was, "Uh?  The Brits attacked the Russians with sticky Greek pastries?"

My next thought was, "Oh, maybe the Russians were allergic to pistachios."

Now I'm looking for my travel size bottle of Benadryl. 

More Anglican questions. . .*

1).  Any guesses about the title of the apostolic constitution?

Sure.  How about Tiberis Nare? (Now we wait for all the picky Latinists to correct my grammar. . .it's inevitable.)

2).  Will Anglican parishes be able to bring property along with them?

I hope so!  They don't allow ugly vestments in the Anglican Church.  Of course, the Episcopal Church has lately taken to wearing some howlers.  Seriously, in the U.S. it would be decided parish by parish, diocese by diocese.  In the U.K., you have the whole state religion problem.  My fear is that traditionalist Anglicans will resist the urge to Come Home to Rome for no other reason than their churches are actually look like churches instead of urology clinics.

3).  What will we call Father's wife?

Ummmm. . ."ma'am"?  Most anything but "Mother."

4).  What are the main differences between the English translation of the Roman Rite and the rite the Anglican Use parish will use?

The Anglican Use Rite doesn't condescend to the people by assuming that they are too stupid to know what words like "ineffable" mean.  The language is actually real English and not committee-speak designed to desacralize the liturgy with fortune cookie inanities. 

5).  Has there been any response from the Episcopal Church leaders?

Yes, the Presiding Bishopress donned her oven-mitt miter and invoked her goddess, Hecate, to pox the Holy Father.  It didn't work; in fact, it backfired.  Now she's all itchier and whinier than ever.

* No, these are not real questions.  I'm making them up.  The answers are real though.

24 October 2009

A Parable

A passenger jet carrying about 250 people is forced by a hurricane to crash land on a remote island.*

Most of the passengers and the flight crew safely evacuate to the beach to ride out the storm.

After a couple of days, the hurricane abates and three members of the flight crew climb the small mountain back to the crashed jet in an attempt to contact help with the cockpit radio.

The crew is gone for two days.  In the meantime, another hurricane hits the island.  When the three crew members fail to return after four days, a small party of passengers climb the mountain and discover that the storm has caused an avalanche and killed the three crew members.  The radio has been destroyed as well.

The passenger-rescue party find three notebooks bound together with a rubber-band and sealed in a heavy-duty plastic bag.  They take the notebooks back to the beach and begin trying to decipher the scribbled notes.  Soon, all agree that the crew members were taking notes on a proposed rescue plan.  But it is unclear whether they themselves were planning a possible rescue scenario, or if they were taking notes on a plan proposed via radio by authorities on the mainland.

The notes indicated that the stranded passengers and crew would have to undertake several arduous tasks in order for any rescue attempt to succeed.  In fact, these tasks would not only deplete their limited food and water reserves, but also place all of them in danger of injury and death.

Two groups quickly formed around two possible interpretations of the three notebooks.  One group, the Rescue Realists (RR), argue that the notes themselves indicate that the crew had been in contact with the mainland and that they should do everything necessary to complete the tasks in order to be rescued.

The Rescue Anti-Realists (RAR) argue that the notes indicate nothing more than a plan to be proposed by the crew to make sure that the stranded people worked together as a cohesive group in order to maintain civilized behavior and the hope of rescue.  Given the obvious tentative tone of the notes, the more dangerous tasks are interpreted as merely brainstorming suggestions rather than requirements to be met for rescue.

Since the radio had been destroyed, there was no viable means of verifying the RR interpretation.  However, the RR camp argues that to ignore the plan would be tantamount to suicide, so the whole group should immediately begin the tasks so as to maximize their chances of rescue.

The RAR argue that since there is no way of verifying the RR interpretation, it would be wiser to ignore those tasks that directly threaten their limited resources and focus only on those tasks that would keep the group together as a community until they were rescued, if they were rescued.

The following are givens:

1). There is no viable, external means of verifying either interpretation.

2). Both interpretations would work to keep the group together as a community.

3). Neither interpretation guarantees rescue, injury/death, or an unusual depletion of resources.  Though everyone agrees that the RR interpretation is more dangerous and likely to deplete supplies more quickly. 

Given all of this, which interpretative group would you join and why?

*This parable is adapted from one proposed by Paul Moser to explain the difference between theological realism and theological anti-realism.  He sees the difference as primarily one of epistemology, that is, what can we know about God and how?

Victicrat

Great vid! Some of the language may not be appropriate for everyone. . .

Well, well. . .HancAquam is #18!

 Top 25 Catholic Websites

1.  EWTNews - 4,038
2.  American Papist by Thomas Peters - 1,466
3.  New Advent - 702
4.  What Does The Prayer Really Say? - 278
5.  Catholic Church Conservation - 197
6.  The American Catholic - 121
7.  The Curt Jester by Jeff Miller - 91
8.  Jimmy Akin - 88
9.  Conversion Diary - 83
10.  Whispers in the Loggia - 74
11.  Holy Smoke by Damian Thompson - 51
12.  Per Christum - 48
13.  Inside Catholic - 38
14.  The Black Cordelias - 36
15.  RORATE CÆLI - 34
15.  The Hermeneutic of Continuity - 34
17.  Pro Ecclesia by Jay Anderson - 20
18.  Vatican YouTube Channel - 19
18.  CVSTOS FIDEI - 19
18.  Steve Skojec - 19
18.  PewSitter News - 19
18.  Domine, da mihi hanc aquam! - 19
23.  New Liturical Movement - 18
24.  National Catholic Register’s Daily Blog – 16
24.  Creative Minority Report - 16

Why are liberal cities so white?


Funny thing. . .turns out that all those Leftie Prog cities that the eco-weirdos love so much are really, really, really white.  I don't mean shiny clean. . .I mean White. . .as in mostly Lily White People.

Figures the Lefties would find a way to couch their racist white-flight in terms of "saving the planet."

Heh.

23 October 2009

Coffee Bowl Browsing (A.D.D. Edition)

Well, it's not a Chinese buffet. . .but close!

Ten for $10, or five for $8. . .no refunds.

Very sick. . .but also true.

He wants to borrow your camera. . .but he has no thumbs.

Off to the gym. . .in 1909.

Ahhhhhh, so this is where the Italians get their driver's license. . .

Don't watch this if farm animals and yoga teachers creep you out. . .

Zombies hold a car wash fundraiser. . .to buy more brains.

Fun before death. . .horrible, agonizing death.

I don't know what this means. . .but it's funny anyway.

Yea, they're gross. . .but vanilla ice cream helps a lot.

The Dark Lord has lost it. . .Vader does Carmen.

Oops. . .someone burned the roast again.

Anglican Welcome Poll

Is the Holy Father's welcome to traditionalists Anglicans. . .

...an act of a true pastor.

...a good thing but not a big deal.

...a nice gesture that will go unanswered by most.

...an act of poaching.

...a declaration of war against revisionists.

...a confusing mess for canon lawyers and bishops.

  

pollcode.com free polls

Dominican sister helps out at abortion clinic (UPDATED)

[UPDATE:  A number of readers have written to ask me about contacting Quinn's superior or Cardinal George.  The LifeSiteNews story includes the contact info for both.  However, if you read the whole article linked below, you will see that sister's prioress is well-aware of her activities and defends her.  Quinn has been involved in supporting abortion for years.  There's nothing new here.  At most a letter or email will get you "thank you for your concern" note in response.  Please don't expect anything more than that.  In my experience dealing with dissenters, notes of outrage only fuel their view of themselves as martrys.  Also, please note that Quinn is a sister not a nun.  Dominican nuns are not in the business of helping mothers kill their children. . .nor are a vast majority of sisters.]

Next time some "Spirit of Vatican Two" Catholic sputters and whines about the injustice of the Vatican investigating U.S. religious women, point them to this article from LifeSiteNews.com:

HINSDALE, Illinois, October 23, 2009: A Dominican nun [sic] has been seen frequenting an abortion facility in Illinois recently - but not, as one might expect, to pray for an end to abortion or to counsel women seeking abortions, but to volunteer as a clinic escort.

Local pro-life activists say that they recognized the escort at the ACU Health Center as Sr. Donna Quinn, a nun [sic] outspokenly in favor of legalized abortion, after seeing her photo in a Chicago Tribune article. . .

This is beyond scandalous.  Donna do doubt believes that she is truly doing God's work by helping these mothers kill their children.  

But what drove her to this dark place. . .radical feminism, of course:

In a 2002 address to the Women's Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School, Sr. Quinn described how she came to view the teachings of her Church as "immoral": "I used to say: 'This is my Church, and I will work to change it, because I love it,'" she said. "Then later I said, 'This church is immoral, and if I am to identify with it I'd better work to change it.' More recently, I am saying, 'All organized religions are immoral in their gender discriminations.'"

Quinn called gender discrimination "the root cause of evil in the Church, and thus in the world," and said she remained in the Dominican community simply for "the sisterhood."

"Gets 'em every time," snickers Wormwood!

Bridge over Anglican waters...

I've rec'd a lot of questions about the practicalities of the Holy Father's invitation to traditionalist Anglicans to join Mother Church.

I will attempt to answer them with these provisos:  1) I am not canon lawyer; 2) and the apostolic constitution has not been published.

1).  What's the difference between the current pastoral provisions for allowing married Anglican clergy to become Catholic priests and this new arrangement?

Under the pastoral provisions of John Paul II a married Anglican priest may be admitted to Catholic Holy Orders at the discretion of a local bishop.  He will have to take some classes and pass a few exams before ordination.  After ordination, he can be assigned to a Catholic parish as an administrator or associate pastor.  He may not serve as a pastor.  Whole Anglican parishes may come over as well and be included in what is called "Anglican Use" parishes.  These parishes use a version of the Book of Common Prayer for their liturgies and are usually served by a former Anglican priest.  In all cases, the individual priest and the parish remain under the direct jurisdiction of the local bishop.

Benedict is changing this up by placing converted Anglican clergy and parishes under the jurisdiction of their own Ordinaries; that is, an Anglican Use parish served by a former Anglican priest will not answer to the local Roman Catholic bishop but rather serve under an Ordinary who was also once an Anglican priest or bishop.  This means that in any given diocese, there can be an Ordinary for the Latin Catholics (always a bishop) and an Ordinary for the local Anglican Use Catholics (can be a celibate bishop, a celibate priest, or a married priest, all of whom were once Anglican clerics).  Every geographical diocese already has a number of Ordinaries.  One is a Latin Rite bishop, another may be a Ukrainian Rite bishop, or a Byzantine Rite bishop.  What Benedict seems to be doing is establishing the first non-Latin rite in communion with Rome that comes out of the Reformation. 

2).  Can boys who grow up in one of these Anglican Use parishes become married priests?

That is unclear.  My guess is that the marriage provision applies only to converts not those who will be baptized in the Anglican Use rite as children.  I doubt very seriously that Rome will allow the Holy Father's offer to become a permanently opened backdoor for an across-the-board married Latin Rite priesthood. 

3).  Will these former Anglicans be real Roman Catholics?  I mean, do they have to accept Church teaching in every way?

Yes.  Without a doubt they will have to accept as true all the teachings of the Church.  Rome is not going to let them fudge on hot-button issues like contraception, papal primacy and infallibility, and Marian dogma.  They will have to become fully Roman Catholic.  The word is that they will sign copies of the Catechism rather than just make a statement of faith as is the norm now for Anglican converts.

4).  Doesn't this offer from the Pope ruin ecumenical dialogue with the Church of England and the Episcopal Church?

Some certainly think so.  I don't.  We can continue talking to anyone we please.  Most professional ecumenists see their job as an effort to find ways of bringing two churches together in some sort of theological or ecclesial compromise.  We'll drop doctrine X if your accept doctrine Y.  This is not the Church's teaching on how to do ecumenical dialogue.  Dialogue with other ecclesial communities is not about diluting the tradition just so we can all say that we belong to the same institution.  Benedict's offer to the Anglican is truly ecumenical because he has waived certain non-essential requirements for admission into the Church.  He has made it simpler to become Catholic, not simpler to just join a compromised tradition.  Catholic ecumenists are a little upset with all this because they sometimes see these dialogues as a backdoor means of liberalizing Catholic teaching.  They also don't like the fact that Benedict's offer is unilateral, that is, not negotiated with the official Anglican bodies.  The assumption here is that Rome should have treated Canterbury as an ecclesial equal rather than the usurper it is. 

5).  Does this move hurt our relations with the Orthodox?

Hardly.  By allowing married Anglican clergy to become Catholic priests but not bishops, the Holy Father is sending a clear signal to the Orthodox that the ancient tradition of a celibate episcopacy will be maintained.  If anything, the offer will strengthen our ties to the Orthodox (a very, very good thing!).  It has become painfully clear in the last few decades that organic union with the mainstream of Protestantism is not going to happen.  The divisions have been widened over the years by women's ordination, same-sex activism, and other radical changes in the catholic tradition.  Rome cannot alter the essentials even if she wanted to.   And most liberal Protestants are too entrenched in their modernist heresies to accept Roman authority anyway.  Our only hope for reunion now is with the traditional Anglicans and the Orthodox.  This is one of the projects of the current pope.

6).  Why not set up a Jewish Use parish, or a Buddhist Use parish?  They don't hold Catholic beliefs either.

I'll treat this as a serious question.  Obviously, Jews and Buddhists aren't Christians.  The Church has never said that Anglicans, Methodists, Quakers, etc. are not Christians.  They do not hold to the fullness of the apostolic faith found in the Catholic Church, but they are baptized Christians.  Jews, Buddhists, atheists, animists are all welcomed to become Catholic any time they choose to.  Christ's offer of salvation with his Church is universal.

I will post more on this issue once the constitution is published.  One friar noted yesterday that the Vatican is holding on to the constitution in order to gauge public reaction to the Pope's offer.  The idea is to let the notion percolate, listen for issues not raised or discussed in the private deliberations, and make any changes necessary.  Smart move, if true.

B.O.'s media bullying of FOX fails. . .miserably

The Most Transparent and Open Administration EVAH! tried to bar FoxNews from the press pool that covers this most translucent, illustriously tolerant White House.

It didn't work.

To their credit, the other news organizations refused to go along with B.O.'s bullying and threatened to pull their reporters if Fox was excluded.  As usual, confront a bully and he'll back down--they are basically cowards at heart.

Never one to say anything nice about the NYT, I will nonetheless gratefully acknowledge the Times' role in exposing B.O.'s thuggery

The current take on the White House's war with FoxNews is that the bumbling crew of the West Wing hoped to dissuade their media minions from picking up on stories Fox is reporting. 

Again, it didn't work.

Let's hope and pray that the MSM has grown tired of B.O.'s petulance.  Maybe they'll start doing their jobs now.

22 October 2009

Awake! Awake! To set the bowls for leaks!*

For once this week I was sleeping well. . .only to be awakened at 3am by an annoying dripping sound.

I got up to discover that it was raining outside. . .and in my room.

At this moment there are eight leaks in my ceiling.  Are they dripping over the sink?  No.  The middle of the room?  No.  How about near the door or window?  No.

All eight are concentrated over my bookshelf and desk.  Of course.  Where else?

Siamo in Italia!

For the last two weeks a crew of roofers has been crawling over scaffolding right outside my window repairing the roof. . .allegedly.  They "work" from about 8.30am to 11.00 and then again from about 3.30pm to 4.00.  And only on days beginning with "T."  As far as I can tell "repairing the roof" in Italian means a lot of yelling, lots of milling about smoking, and the occasional burst of hammering between coffee breaks.  Must be union labor.

Anyway, this makes me very cranky b/c it means that I have to stay in my room to make sure no new leaks spring up to ruin my books or the electronics on my desk.

Last November the leaks were right over my bed, which meant rearranging the furniture.  That was no big deal, really.  I'm not all that concerned about losing a mattress or some bed linens.  But my BOOKS!!!  Now, you're threatening my children, buddy.  And Papa Bear ain't happy about that.  

Fortunately, it never rains in Rome for long.

*Ten brownie points to anyone who can identify the allusion here.

21 October 2009

Simply Catholic: Cardinal George on the liberal project

In 1966, the French philosopher, Jacques Derrida, read a paper at a conference held at Johns Hopkins titled, "Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences."  Thus was the American academy introduced to the corrosive influence of deconstuction's radical skepticism about the ability of language to convey truth.  The history of the liberal arts in the U.S. since 1966 has been a long, sad story of decline into relativistic chaos and left-wing political manipulation.  Deconstruction is essentially (no pun) a machine of critique.  It is conceptually incapable of building anything.  It can only destroy.

In 1998, Francis Cardinal George stunned a congregation at Old St. Patrick's with this line delivered in his homily:  "Liberal Catholicism is an exhausted project."  Later, he was asked to elaborate and did so at a Commmonweal forum held at Loyola University in 1999.

An except from his elaboration:

"We are at a turning point in the life of the church in this country. Liberal Catholicism is an exhausted project. Essentially a critique, even a necessary critique at one point in our history, it is now parasitical on a substance that no longer exists. It has shown itself unable to pass on the faith in its integrity and inadequate, therefore, in fostering the joyful self-surrender called for in Christian marriage, in consecrated life, in ordained priesthood. It no longer gives life."

What started as a much-needed critical review of Church doctrine and practice in the late 19th century, peaked in the documents of Vatican Two, and found its most strident voices in the 70's and 80's has become the sterilizing practice of postmodern dissent and heresy.  The "necessary critique" of manual Thomism and semi-Janenist moral practice in the Church is indeed now "parasitical."

Just as deconstruction demolished the absurd pretenses of liberal western culture and literature with its relentless attack on language, and now sits like a bloated toad on the university quad poisoning everything in its reach, the Spirit of Vatican Two refreshed a moribund institutional Church only to find itself haunting a decimated and demoralized body of believers.

Lest we think the cure is nostalgia, Cardinal George quickly adds:

"The answer, however, is not to be found in a type of conservative Catholicism obsessed with particular practices and so sectarian in its outlook that it cannot serve as a sign of unity of all peoples in Christ."

We cannot rebuild the Church if the only vision of the Church we can see and communicate is the Church as it was in the 1800's.  The liberal project (exemplified by Newman) pushed the Church to engage the world in terms foreign to its basic philosophical foundations.  In taking on this challenge, the Church gained an incredibly fruitful means of evangelization that saw amazing results in the decades leading up to the Second Vatican Council.

Then, like most good things, one good thing was taken to be the only thing and aggressive, unrelenting critique became the mark of being a Catholic intellectual.  Left aside were the pesky admonitions of tradition, ecclesial authority, reason, and just plain good sense.  The only thing that came to matter was opposition to alleged oppression and the failure to be radical enough in one's take-down of the Church.  This is the intellectual equivalent of deciding to renovate your kitchen by demolishing your house and killing your family.

What both John Paul II and Benedict XVI have been trying to communicate to the Church and the world is this:  the time for critical demolition is over.  That project is done.  It is time to retire the dynamite, return the bulldozer, fire the demolition crews, and start to rebuild on the foundation left for us by the apostles.  At the very least, this means a return to the documents of Vatican Two, read and implemented through their continuity with the tradition and reason.  They are not calling us back to an uncritical embrace of Baroque Thomism and manual moralism.  Nor are they asking us to live in the illusions of a warmed-over 1950's nostalgia.  All they are asking the Church to do is start in the present, look back to where we came from and forward to where we are going without getting lost in the bitterness and cynicism that a life of complaint and opposition engenders.

Is that so hard?

Lambeth not happy. . .but why?

Damien Thompson is reporting that Lambeth Palace (the Anglican Vatican) opposed yesterday's generous offer by the Holy Father to take their troublesome traditionalists off their hands. 

I'm not sure why.

It's a win-win for Rome and Canterbury.  Rome gets lots of new, orthodox Catholics, including many extremely well-educated priests.  Canterbury gets rid of one of the many traditionalist thorns digging into its postmodernist skin. 

The only losers in this move by the Holy Father are the left-lib bishops, priests, and institutional dissenters of England & Wales.  There will now be lots of alternatives available to faithful Catholics who are fed up with The Tablet * Church in the U.K.  Catholics who are weary of being told that their Anglican Betters are clearing the path ahead of them toward a Better Roman Church will now have the choice to join a parish that preaches and teaches the Sacred Tradition and not the Latest Thing from the Holy Zeitgeist. 

And since faithful Catholics are the ones actually going to Mass and having kids, it won't take long before all those beautiful buildings we "donated" to Henry VIII and his wives become available. . .assuming, of course, the Church of England doesn't sell them all off to the Muslims as community centers before then.

* The Tablet is the U.K.'s version of America Magazine and the National Catholic Reporter.  Think: Richard McBrien and Joan Chitisster with really posh Brit accents.

Deadlines & Prayer

Time to storm heaven with prayer, Faithful Readers!

I have a writing/deadline schedule from my thesis director:

Chapters One and Two:  Nov 8th
Chapters Three-Five:  Dec 8th 

This schedule will get me done in time to spend about a month studying for comps and the French exam.  Since I am a fast writer, the deadlines will be no problem at all.  However, I am the Platonic Form of All Procrastination in the Known Universe.  So, please pray for persistence in study, strength to write, and a sense of joy in what I am doing.

Knowing that I cannot start teaching again until I have the Ph.L. in hand is a great motivator to finish.  Knowing that you are praying for me is greater still.


Mille grazie!

Coffee Bowl Browsing (I'm Procrastinating Edition)

And you thought that you could die happy w/o seeing a pic of Salvador Dali and his anteaters!

Google:  love it, use it, fear it.

Ahhhh, the multiform talents of all God's creatures. . .

Can you hear me now?

Re-writing children's books for fun and profit. . .and just plain meanness.

A bathroom not made for us Ample Friars

Today's Homer Simpson moment:   Ummmmmm, Spammmmm.

Mickey and his homies are tired of your lip. . .

Haunted by a Holy Ghost?  Who you gonna call?! 

This pic made me reach for the Holy Water and the Rite of Exorcism. . .the Power of Christ compels you. . .to get a life. . .and a job. . .and take a shower.

There's milk sold before the expiration date. . .and then there's Fresh Milk.

Our future:  Ninja Kitty attacks Zombie Toddler. . .oh, the humanity!

This is the road to the local Poste Italiane office.

Haute cuisine in Japan:  Ocular sushi

20 October 2009

Dominican Litany Brings Anglicans Home to Rome

Faith Flaherty, OP Laywoman Extraordinaire, shares this email from the Undersecretary for the CDF, Archbishop Gus DiNoia, OP (via facebook):

Today there was announced -- at press conferences in Rome and London -- the forthcoming publication of an apostolic constitution in which the Holy Father allows for the creation of personal ordinariates for groups of Anglicans in different parts of the world who are seeking full communion with the Catholic Church. The canonical structure of the personal ordinariate will permit this corporate reunion while at the same time providing for retention of elements of Anglican liturgy and spirituality.

When I asked the friars (and other OP's --Ed.) to pray the Dominican litany from 22 February to 25 March earlier this year, the intention was that this proposal would receive the approval of the cardinal members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which was necessary if the proposal of some structure allowing for corporate reunion was to go forward. Our prayers at that time were answered, and now that the proposal has become a reality we can tell everyone what we were praying for then.

Fraternally,

+Abp. J Augustine Di Noia, OP

The Dominican Litany has a long history of being used to give God thanks and praise for His many blessings.  If I'm not mistaken, it was once used to thank God in advance for the election of a particularly excellent cardinal as Pope.  Ahem.  As Faith notes, "Beware the Dominican litany!"

NB.  I've always thought it would be great to be a Vicar of a small, rural Anglican parish.   But the thought of having to deal with the crazies that run the Episcopal Church made the idea poisonous.  But now. . .hmmmmmm. . .who knows?  "Parson Philip"?  "Vicar Powell"?  Sounds nice, uh?  

Will the bishops learn?

Let's see if the world's bishop will learn their lesson now. . .

In the mid-80's Pope John Paul II asked bishops to be generous in permitting traditionalist Catholics to celebrate the Tridentine Rite.

They weren't.  In fact, most of them were downright obstructive.

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI gave us Summorum Pontificum, which takes the decision of whether or not to allow the celebration of the Tridentine Rite (a.k.a. "the Extraordinary Form") out of the bishops' hands.

In 1994, Pope John Paul II asked the bishops of England & Wales to be generous in receiving into the ranks of the isle's Catholic clergy those Anglican priests who were disaffected by the Church of England's decision to ordain women.

They weren't.  In fact, most of them were downright obstructive.

Today, Pope Benedict XVI gave us the Personal Anglican Ordinariate, a canonical work-around the isle's notoriously liberal hierarchy that allows Anglicans fed up with Canterbury's silly innovations to govern themselves within the RCC but without interference from said lib hierarchy.

The lesson here, boy and girls?

When the Holy Father asks you to do something. . .just do it, or it will be done for you.

Anglicans coming home. . .(UPDATED)

On the recent announcement from Rome and Canterbury:  what does it all mean?!

Don't know just yet.  We have to wait for the publication of the Apostolic Constitution to get the details.

Generally speaking, the Holy Father has made it possible for Anglicans fed up with the silliness of their Ecclesial Betters to come into full communion with Rome while retaining much of their beloved Anglican tradition (e.g., the Prayer Book, their music, etc.).  This is basically what has been happening on a much smaller scale in the "Anglican Use" movement in the U.S.

An Episcopalian parish votes to leave its diocese and petitions the Catholic bishop for admission into full communion.  With property, priest, and prayer book in hand, the whole parish becomes Catholic.  With a few modifications in the Prayer Book (and the pastor!), the parish is now a Catholic parish with a decidedly Anglican flavor. 

If the Episcopalian priest is married, he remains married (of course!).  But so long as his wife is living he may not be appointed bishop.  After her death, he may not remarry.

What today's move does is set up a parallel jurisdiction within the RCC run by the former Anglicans themselves.  Leadership would come from an "ordinary," a former Anglican clergyman who is now a Catholic clergyman.  Currently married Anglican priests will be ordained into the priesthood, while bishops will have to be celibate.

A sure indicator that this is the right move is the pinched, huffy response from The Tablet and NCR(ag) commenters.  They don't much like it. . .so, it must be a good thing.

Also, this is great news for those Catholics who are regularly stuck with the choice of going to Mass at either Our Lady of the Dancing Liturgical Clowns, or the local Newman Center where Fr. Hollywood passes the Spirit of Vatican Two peace bong right before the readings from Oprah's latest televised drivel.  If there's an "Anglican Use" parish nearby, they will find reverent liturgy, orthodox preaching, and a lot of really excellent fellowship. . .all without being beaten over the head with leftie "social justice" nonsense. 

Many, many questions remain about exactly how all of this will operate. . .we'll just have to wait and see.

UPDATE:  Creative Minority Report has the most comprehensive report on the Rome-Canterbury doings from yesterday.  Of particular note is the truly orthodox nature of the ecumenism involved in this generous offer from the Holy Father.  Professional ecumenists must be gnashing their teeth--"Why! The ecumenical movement is all about using the need for unity as a front for diluting Catholic doctrine and practice!  How dare the Pope actually bring people into the Church w/o altering Catholic doctrine or practice!"  

U.K. Anglicans will be allowed to convert en masse!

Something Big is happening between Rome and Canterbury!

A simultaneous press conference is underway as I type this (11.21am) at the Vatican and at Lambeth Palace.

Speculation is that it will be announced that the Holy Father, Archbishop Rowan Williams, and Archbishop Vincent Nichols have reached some sort of agreement on allowing traditionalist Anglicans into Mother Church in the U.K.

Some have speculated that Rome is announcing the validity of Anglican Orders.  Fat chance.

We'll see in a few minutes what's going on. . .

UPDATE:   And. . .four minutes later we have a winner“In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony.”

Good job!